Chapter 19

"The Lord will see you now," the serving girl said, guiding me into my Grandfather's study. Like everything else in the castle, it exuded unimaginable luxury. The chairs, the tapestries—everything spoke of high class. Having stayed in the castle for a week, I had become accustomed to it and simply took the seat he gestured me towards, waiting as he collected his thoughts.

"I apologize that this took so long. Hosting the Daimyo is not an easy task," he said, and I nodded, aware of the obvious animosity between both men. For the Daimyo, it was animosity, but what my Grandfather felt seemed more like distant irritation.

"You are a very silent one, aren't you? When I received the reports, I almost couldn't believe it. A son of Karura rendered mute by the abuse of that buffoon Rasa," he growled, and confusion washed over me. "What? Abuse?" I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Yes, abuse. What else should I call forcing a child to live and grow up without their family? But that's not why I brought you here," he said, standing and making his way to one of the bookshelves in the study. He waved for me to join him, and as I did, I was shocked to see him weaving hand seals. He was slow and clumsy, but his chakra obeyed, causing the bookshelf to disappear and reveal a door in its place.

"Shocking, right?" I nodded.

"Come with me, I will tell you a story."

We walked through the door and entered what was clearly a more private study. Portraits of red-headed women adorned the walls—two women, clearly, with fewer portraits of a man.

"It all began nearly 50 years ago. My grandfather was an ambitious man, terribly ambitious. He saw the dominance we held over the waters of Kaze no Kuni and wondered why we had not turned that into the great wealth of the other families. We had the water and the food, but terrible deals meant we were doing little more than breaking even from our businesses. He sought a way to improve this, to make our water and food last longer so we were no longer forced to sell as soon as we produced. He wanted to give us more bargaining power, so he turned to fuinjutsu on the advice of one of his shinobi bodyguards," he spoke, his gaze fixed on the oldest portrait.

"But he didn't stop at hiring a few ninja as his bodyguard thought he would. No, he wanted it in-house. He had no interest in being dependent on shinobi forever. So he sought me a bride from the major fuinjutsu clan of the world—the Uzumaki," my gasp was reflexive.

"Yes, I'm sure you've heard of me. That's where he found my wife, Karin. She gave me beautiful children, the youngest of which was Karura, your mother. Karura was the apple of my eye from the day she was born. She was the only one to favor my looks over her mother's. When she was born with that tuft of blonde hair, I was ecstatic.

"And so, naturally, I spoiled her. Whatever she wanted was granted to her. She was the only girl among her siblings, so it was expected that she would marry well. When the Daimyo himself sought her hand, we were prepared for her to make us prouder than ever. Of course, she had different ideas. She eloped with a jounin from Sunagakure, your father. He had been hired as a bodyguard a few times, and unbeknownst to me and my father, they had shared letters for years. Enough letters for the foolish girl to decide she was in love. What could we do? The Daimyo thought he had a bride, but she had already married a shinobi and lost her maidenhead," he sighed.

"My father wanted to disavow her actions entirely. Such was his wrath. But I saw how that would be a bad idea. We could not have the other Houses believe us weak, unable to control one of our own. So we hatched a plot. We refused the Daimyo and told him we had made a different choice. Oh, he was furious at that. Instead of being a family with no control over their own, we became the family arrogant enough to spurn the Daimyo. It was a better alternative, but it still cost us a lot," I nodded, realizing the immense power the Daimyo held in the country. Pissing him off would not end well.

"Yes, yes. But back to your mother. She was lost to us after her marriage. My father disowned her in every way that mattered, and by the time I had the power to do anything about it, she was already dead. When I assumed the Lordship, your mother was already gone, and that will forever be my biggest regret," he said. "Instead, I did my best to ensure her children would live beautiful lives. I never wanted any of you to become shinobi, but the jounin who had come to me as a supplicant to spare his life after stealing my daughter is now a Kage and believes himself untouchable." The description of Rasa was interesting, to say the least.

"Now that you know your mother's story, come, come. Sit on your grandfather's lap and tell me about your life. That's all I want to know," he said, and I walked over to him. Normally, I would resist this form of coddling, but now that he was done talking, I could see just how much Karura had broken the man. He was tired, and if telling him fabricated stories about a childhood I never experienced would make him feel better, who was I to resist?

XXXXXX

He left me in the study after a few hours. Karin, his wife, had left him with numerous scrolls of fuinjutsu, insisting that I learn from them. She called it my inheritance. At least, he agreed to let me keep them on the condition that I return them within the next five years. Five years seemed like a long time, so I quickly agreed to the deal he proposed. Finally, I could delve into fuinjutsu.

And then, perhaps even more important than the fuinjutsu, was the quest. When he left, a quest completion notification filled my vision.

Quest Complete!

Objective: Find out about Karura and her origins.✔️

Rewards: Opportunity to learn fuinjutsu, Automatic sand defense, 500 XP, Rare loot roll.

I now possessed the sand defense, or at least that's what the game claimed. For now, I had no way to test it. If it was true, and the game had never lied to me before, it meant a significant increase in power. No longer having to worry about defense would be a substantial advantage. The Rare loot roll had granted me a sword, of all things.

A special sword, as the game explicitly stated.

Rare Item received: Dark Sister. The Valyrian steel blade wielded by Visenya Targaryen. Said to have a thirst for blood.

The lackluster description failed to divert my attention from what the sword represented. It was special, a sign that the game was not limited to this universe. It could provide me with items from outside this setting. The blade itself was proof of that. While I doubted I would find much use for a longsword, it was still noteworthy. I stowed it in my inventory and focused on my studying. Yes, I could take the scrolls with me, but I was too curious and eager to begin right away.

A week later, I stood with the Daimyo as farewells were exchanged with Lord Nayohara, my grandfather. When it was my turn, he simply nodded at me. We had said our goodbyes hours earlier. The Daimyo's party departed, and I joined them in noticeably higher spirits. My fuinjutsu skill had just reached level 3. It was one of the slowest skills I had ever leveled, but progress was progress, and a part of me relished the challenge. After all, the most worthwhile things were never easy.

XXXXX

Of course, my good mood didn't last. The one-year mark had finally passed, and we were not even halfway through the journey. Over a year of crucial development time had been lost. I made good progress with fuinjutsu, reaching level 20 in the last few months. However, with the exception of meditation, it was the only skill that saw any progress.

The longer this mission continued, the more I despised the Daimyo. I couldn't have refused his request to undertake the mission, but I couldn't fathom why he made the request in the first place. Since I joined, he hadn't given me a second thought. Was this what it felt like to be the subject of fickle royal attention? It felt awful.

My hand jolted as the alarm seal I had created to alert me when my break ended activated, signaling me to get back to work. Fuinjutsu was difficult. Even with maxed-out intelligence, every concept stretched my mind to new limits. It seemed that no matter how smart you were, either you had the aptitude for fuinjutsu or you didn't. At this point, I was convinced I didn't. That didn't mean I would give up, though. I was too stubborn for that. But it did mean I had to constantly reevaluate my growth expectations. I had thought I would be near level 40 by now.

XXXXX

Two years and three months, I thought to myself with a scowl. That's how much time the Daimyo's madness had cost me. Very little training beyond physical fitness and taijutsu katas in the peace of my room. Towards the end, I tried to spend as much time away from his presence as possible to avoid the temptation of killing the man myself.

It was all over, though. His party had finally returned to the capital, and I was free to do as I willed. I returned to Suna quickly but not before making three clones to do some training for me. One to work on ninjutsu and the other two to train my taijutsu until they dropped. I had so much progress to make up, and I knew exactly what I had to do.

I arrived at the Kage's office a minute after logging my entrance at the gate. His secretary waved me inside, and I offered Rasa a shallow bow. My knee still wasn't keen on bending.

"Welcome, Gaara. It's been a while," he said.

I nodded at Rasa, much too impatient for any small talk.

"Your report?" he asked, and I walked forward after fishing a scroll from one of my pockets, not even bothering to act surprised that he was the one asking for it directly instead of sending me to the mission office.

"The Daimyo sent us a letter," he said. I worked hard to keep the placid expression on my face even though I felt a small jolt of fear run through me.

"He upgraded the mission and the pay to S-rank. And asked that we pass on his gratitude for a job done exceptionally well."

What? What in the actual hell was this? Rasa watched me, clearly looking for some sort of reaction, but I gave him nothing.

"It will be reflected on your mission record," he said, and I began to walk away from the office.

"And Gaara?" I stopped, turning back to him.

"Good job. Just a few more missions till you become eligible to be a jounin. Get the missions; I will personally recommend you," he said before dismissing me.

Rasa might have thought himself to be a funny man. Two years of my life wasted where I could have been running mission after mission to get myself that jounin promotion, and all he gave me in return was a promise to recommend me? A clown. That's what he was.

Still, though, I couldn't deny that his promise had value. Having the recommendation problem solved, all I needed were the missions. 100 B-ranks, and 20 A-ranks were the remaining requirements, since I already met the S-rank mission requirement. Becoming Jounin was an achievement beyond most others. It could be the crowning moment of a ninja's entire career, and some spent years, if not decades working towards it. I had a year and some change before canon started, and I needed to hit jounin before then.

Rasa's meeting with Orochimaru wasn't given a specific date in canon, all I knew was that it was sometime between Gaara turning 12 and the Chunin exams. That meant I needed to be ready for Rasa to die any moment after I turned 12. I needed to be a jounin, and the obviously strongest one in the village. I wasn't against assassinating whoever ended up being chosen to replace Rasa to ensure my ascension, but it would be so much cleaner if the elders chose me of their own accord.

I walked away and went straight to the mission desk. Intentionally or not, Rasa's words had reminded me of my goal. When I got there, I wasn't surprised to find the area for A-ranked missions empty. I walked to the chunin in charge of distributing them, and the man visibly sneered down at me.

"What do you want, boy?" Another idiot. Great.

"A mission," I said, resisting the urge to reply sarcastically.

"Are you blind? This is the A-ranked mission desk."

"I know," he seemed to purple at my reply.

"Chunins can't…" he began to say before an Anbu appeared next to him and began to whisper in his ear.

When the Anbu left, he turned to me with a face that looked like it had swallowed a lemon. "We have an assassination mission in the Land of Earth for you," he said and tossed me the scroll.

Whatever just happened was none of my business; that was the thought I killed my curiosity with as I made my way out of the tower and out of the village. I had enough supplies to tide me over, and I had no time to waste.

The target of my assassination was a merchant who stayed in one of the multiple cities in the Land of Earth. Assassination missions themselves had confused me for a while until Baki had explained it in his customarily sarcastic and offensive tone. Apparently, as long as you weren't performing the assassinations in a hidden village's walls and you avoided targets being protected by ninja of the hidden village, then you were free to do as you wished in the countryside. Confusing, right? It confused me too for a time until I realized ninjas were just businessmen.

What better way was there to market your services than the fact that those who were protected by your ninja tended to die less in assassinations? And having a competitor or colleague die in an assassination was a hell of a motivation to get your own ninja protection.

Passage into the Land of Earth was a simple matter. The mission scroll had specified that I needed to present myself to the Land of Earth's border patrol and declare my mission before I made my way in, so that's what I planned on doing.

It had taken a week to cover the distance to the borders, and the border patrol was even easier to find, considering I made no efforts to hide my presence. "Halt," one ninja said before dropping down in front of me from a tree.

"State your name and purpose," he said. I noted the seven ninjas or so that remained in the treeline, waiting for me to announce myself as hostile.

"Gaara of the Desert. Mission," I said, passing the scroll to the Earth ninja. After inspecting it, he waved me in, and I began to move, knowing that the village's Anbu would probably tail me throughout my time in their borders.

XXXXX

The assassination itself happened with little fanfare. I'd spent more time traveling - three weeks - than I did killing the target or even planning the kill. It was easy for me to find him in his residence alone and slit his throat open with a kunai.

The man was a small-scale merchant with little protection, and the mission request hadn't required me to make it look like an accident. At this point, I'm sure the only reason the mission was even A-ranked was the existing coldness between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind.

Of course, I did my best to be in and out as quickly as possible. The mission was a lucky one, and I wasn't about to overstay my welcome or test my luck by remaining for longer than I had to.

Of course, the more I spoke about not testing my luck, the more the universe seemed to be keen on making that happen. I jumped over a tree and arrested my momentum on another as a kunai flew past my head.

Fuck. I ignored the quest notification that appeared in the corner of my vision as I tried to slow my breathing so I could focus my senses on my surroundings. Meditation had finally paid off and offered me one hell of a boon once I got it to level 75: chakra sensing. It was no good for finding my attackers wherever they hid, but I was able to detect the fluctuation that marked my opponent's shunshin as they sped towards me.

Dodging the obvious attack was child's play. But my follow-up also missed. I cursed myself for choosing to travel in the dead of night. I'd felt like I had the energy to continue moving for the day, but I never considered what the lack of visibility would mean for an attack. I dodged away from another kunai and turned tail, continuing to run. This time, caught off guard, my assailants were unable to mask their movements so easily. Some sand out of inventory formed into a clone by my side as I dispelled the ones I had training back home.

The clone nodded at me before veering sharply to the left in the cover of darkness and attempting to loop around my attackers. Of course, they noticed him, and two split from the group of 5(?) to take him out while the rest continued forward. I could see them from the corner of my eye and noticed they were gaining ground. Of course, I wouldn't just be able to outrun skilled ninjas like that. I stopped against the next tree in my path and used it to jump right back at them. One was caught unaware and wasted time scattering out of my way. He caught my kunai with one of his own and opened his mouth to say something. He ended up spitting blood as my kunai went right into his lung. Wind enhancement for the win!

The other two weaved around me, trying to flank, and I finally noticed their outfits. They weren't dressed like ninja from any village in particular or even in the Anbu uniforms used by Root ninja. The one to the left weaved through hand seals. I flashed back to my Chunin exams as sparks built across his hands as he prepared to unleash whatever jutsu he was using. I took a breath before exhaling three wind bullets. One in the skull and two center mass took his life from him before he could even begin.

The last one ended their approach, screaming her comrade's name, "Lee!" she shouted in a voice that screamed of sorrow and shock. I'd have empathized with her if they weren't trying to kill me. "What the fuck?" she screamed at me. "You're supposed to be a kid. An easy target." Those were her last words as a tendril of sand wrapped around her neck from behind and crushed it. She was dead before she even hit the ground.

What just happened, I asked myself. I checked the quest notification and almost facepalmed.

Quest Notification

Nobuki and her brothers have found out about your presence in Iwa. Deciding to begin their careers as bounty hunters by cashing in on your bounty, they bribed a chunin to tell them about your mission and whereabouts and ambushed you.

Objective: Survive the attack

Bonus Objective: Let the bounty hunters live after gaining their loyalty.

Rewards: 500 XP, 2 stat points

Bonus Objective Rewards: Contacts outside Suna, the beginning of your own spy network.

Bullshit. Just pure bullshit. "Maybe try not to be so bloodthirsty all the time, boss," my clone said before I dispelled him with a scowl. He was right, though. I'd gone straight to kill-first, ask-questions-later mode. If I was paying attention, I'd have noticed that beyond their tree-hopping and shunshin, all their ninja skills were unpolished. Even their clothes weren't ninja gear. They were trained civilians at best.

I just scowled and continued my journey to Suna. I'd never wanted a spy network, but missing out on the opportunity to form one when it was right in my face was annoying.